GRIM LOVELIES
by Megan Shepherd
HMH Books for Young Readers
October 2, 2018
From Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Anouk envies the human world, where people known as Pretties lavish themselves in fast cars, high fashion, and have the freedom to fall in love. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. Enchanted from animal to human girl and forbidden to venture beyond her familiar Parisian prison, Anouk is a Beastie: destined for a life surrounded by dust bunnies and cinders serving Mada Vittora, the evil witch who spelled her into existence. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.
Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. Pursued through Paris by the underground magical society known as the Haute, Anouk and her fellow Beasties only have three days to find the real killer before the spell keeping them human fades away. If they fail, they will lose the only lives they’ve ever known…but if they succeed, they could be more powerful than anyone ever bargained for.
This book came as a big surprise from HMH Books and Raincoast Books. Huge thanks going out to them both.
From the very beginning on this book, I was getting Harry Potter vibes, and Cinderella vibes, but in a good way. This book wasn’t really trying to be emulate anything else. It is definitely its own thing. But anyone who’s a fan of either HP or Cinderella will probably find themselves sucked in at record speed.
The plot is deceiving, making you believe it’s very simple. A goal is set, and our characters head out on their way and then everything starts to go wrong. Not uncommon. But in this tale, each obstacle isn’t just something to get around. Each twist changes the main goal. Imagine running a 5K and the finish line keeps jumping around.
The characters are fantastic. Each one an individual and completely believable as an animal turned into a human. Essentially, they’re all just a few years old, but fully grown. There’s a mix of aged experience and child-like naivety in them.
The world was expertly crafted as well. It’s set in the current day. Cell phones and guns are things. But the magical world within our world has rules, laws, and restrictions that make modern technology unusable. We end up with this wonderful juxtaposition of the past and present. That’s probably where the Harry Potter vibes came from. (Not that they’re the only two stories to do that.)
There’s a lot of reasons to read this book. From the fascinating world, to the great characters, or the plot turns that you keep thinking you see coming, but then it goes another way completely. Recommend this to just about anyone.